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TES: The largest network of teachers in the world
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Table of Contents
Build it Up
Broad Question
Do certain nutrients make grass grow taller?Specific Question
Does grass grow taller in Magnesium Sulfate, Potash, or Rock Phosphate enriched soil?Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that the grass will grow the tallest in the Magnesium Sulfate enhancement.It is hypothesized that the Magnesium will help grow the grass the fastest because magnesium plays a key role in stabilizing a plant and without it, plants would not be able to perform photosynthesis. Magnesium also helps activate many enzymes needed for plant growth. If soil lacks Magnesium levels, it can cause plant leaves to turn yellow and fall off without withering. In the case of grass, not enough Magnesium will cause a stunt in its growth. Out of the three choices, Magnesium, Potash, and Rock Phosphate, Magnesium would best grow the plant the tallest.
Graph of Hypothesis
Variables
Independent Variable:
Varied Mineral Enhancements (Rock Phosphate, Magnesium Sulfate, Potash)Dependent Variable:
Height of Grass (mm)Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
Size and type of containersAmount of Sand in each container
Amount of Water used to water container
Amount of Magnesium Sulfate in each given container
Amount of Potash in each given container
Amount of Rock Phosphate in each given container
Amount of grass seeds in each container
Period of time that the plants need to grow
Location of Containers
Amount of light grass is receiving
Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
Decomposition- the act of decomposingPotash- a potassium compound used in agriculture and industry
Magnesium Sulfate- a bitter white crystalline salt
Rock Phosphate- phosphate rock used as fertilizer
General Plan
Potential Problems And Solutions
A potential problem that could be encountered is the inability to purchase the mineral enhancements. Research should be done prior to the experiment to see if they are available at nearby hardware/farming supply stores.Safety Or Environmental Concerns
A safety concern that comes with this experiment would be handling the minerals as well as being near them unprotected. It is advised that one does not ingest the minerals or handle them with bare hands. Goggles, a face mask, and gloves are strongly recommended.Experimental Design
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if different mineral enhanced soils had an effect on plant growth. Grass seeds were planted in 15 containers full of sand. The sand in 5 of the containers had been mixed with an enhancement of Magnesium Sulfate, 5 with a Potash enhancement, and 5 with a Rock Phosphate enhancement. The containers will be watered on a weekly basis. At the end of the experiment, 3 blades of grass will be measured in each container and average out to find a mean height of grass for each container. The data will then be put into a graph.
Resources and Budget Table
Detailed Procedure
1. For this experiment, materials must first be gathered: 3 large bowls, 15 planting pots (252 cubic centimeters each), sand, toothpicks, grass seed (purchased from Walmart), rock phosphate, magnesium sulfate, and potash mineral powders.
2. Next separate the planting pots into 3 groups of 5. Label 5 with ‘Magnesium”, 5 with “Rock Phosphate”, and 5 with “Potash”.
3. Pour 200 mL of sand into each planting pot.
4. Keeping the containers into separated groups, add 25 mL of each mineral into it’s corresponding container (25 mL of magnesium into the containers labeled ‘magnesium’...etc.) and mix the sand around the make sure the mineral had been evenly distributed with any available stirring device such as a Popsicle stick.
5. When this is complete, add 60 mL of water into every container to dampen the sand.
6. Next, mass the grass seeds so there will be 2 grams in each container. Plant the seeds about 2 cm in the sand so they are covered with a thin layer of sand.
7. Once the seeds are planted, flag some toothpicks. Take a small piece of masking tape and wrap it around the top of a toothpick so there is a small tab. On the tab write the letter ‘A’. Do it again and label it with ‘B’ and once more with ‘C’. Now repeat this step until there are 15 sets of ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ labeled toothpicks. They will somewhat resemble the toothpicks in this photo but not as fancy and they won’t say BOP. They’ll say ABC.
8. Once all the toothpicks are labeled, place an ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ toothpick in each container in random places.
9. When this is complete, place the planting pots in an area in the greenhouse that will not get too much sunlight, yet not too little. Do not forget to take pictures as you conduct the experiment.
10. Add 60 mL of water to each planting pot once a week, the sand retains water very well so they do not need to be watered often.
11. Measure the grass height once at the very end of the experiment. In each container, measure the blade of grass nearest to toothpick ‘A’, toothpick ‘B’, and toothpick ‘C’. Once those 3 heights are measured, average them out to get one mean height for the container. Repeat this for each container in each set of minerals. Record the final results 3 weeks after the start of the experiment in a data table and make a graph.
Data Table
Data Analysis
Graphs
Photos
Results
The average height of the grass in the Potash enhanced soil was 0 cm. For the Magnesium Sulfate enhanced soil, the average height was .9 cm. In the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil, the average height was 54.2 cm. The grass in the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil grew a considerable amount taller than the grass in the Potash and Magnesium Sulfate enhanced soil.Conclusion
The experiment was designed to see which nutrients helped plants grow the tallest. The results show that the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil grew the grass the tallest. The average height of the grass in the Magnesium Sulfate enhanced soil was .9 cm, the average height of the grass in the Potash enhanced soil was 0 cm, and the average height of the grass in the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil was 54.2 cm.Discussion
An experiment was conducted to see if soil enhanced in different minerals had an effect on the growth of grass. The results of the experiment did answer the experiment question. Yes, of the minerals that were used, the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil grew the grass the tallest. It was hypothesized that the Magnesium Sulfate enhanced soil would grow the grass the tallest. The experiment results did not support the hypothesis but did answer the experiment question.
The average height of the grass in the Potash enhanced soil was 0 cm. For the Magnesium Sulfate enhanced soil, the average height was .9 cm. In the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil, the average height was 54.2 cm. The grass in the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil grew a considerable amount taller than the grass in the Potash and Magnesium Sulfate enhanced soil. It was observed that the grass seeds planted in the Potash enhanced soil had zero growth whatsoever. That being so, the zero growth of the grass in the Potash mineral and the abundance of growth in the Rock Phosphate enhanced soil gave the experiment very clear results. Yes, grass does grow more in certain mineral-enhanced soil.
The relationship between the three nutrients and growth of the grass was strong because there was one nutrient that made the grass grow a significant amount more than the others. These results are difficult to explain due to the prior research done to the experiment. The original research stated that the Magnesium Sulfate enhancement would help grow the grass the tallest but the results proved that to be wrong. A problem that was encountered while conducting the experiment was the vacation that was scheduled in the month of February causing the plants to go unwatered for a few days longer than usual. This problem did not seem to have any effect on the results of the experiment. There were no evident flaws in the design of the experiment. Something that could have been changed about the experiment would be the length of time that it was run. A longer time may have given the plants more time to grow and different results may or may not have been seen.
Special technology used in this experiment was minimal. An electrical balance was used to mass the grass seeds. The results that came from this experiment could benefit garden supply manufacturing companies and businesses and help them with creating new products to market. Future experiments that can come from this could be replicating the experiment but with different nutrients and minerals.
Background Research
"Soil minerals play a vital role in soil fertility since mineral surfaces serve as potential sites for nutrient storage. There are numerous types of minerals found in the soil. These minerals vary greatly in size and chemical composition."
"The secondary nutrients are calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S). There are usually enough of these nutrients in the soil so fertilization is not always needed. Also, large amounts of Calcium and Magnesium are added when lime is applied to acidic soils. Sulfur is usually found in sufficient amounts from the slow decomposition of soil organic matter, an important reason for not throwing out grass clippings and leaves."
"Magnesium is a component of several primary and secondary minerals in the soil, which are essentially insoluble, for agricultural considerations. These materials are the original sources of the soluble or available forms of Mg. Magnesium is also present in relatively soluble forms, and is found in ionic form (Mg++) adhered to the soil colloidal complex. The ionic form is considered to be available to crops."
References
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to see if a certain mineral affected growth of grass. It was hypothesized that Magnesium would grow grass taller than Potash and Rock Phosphate. The minerals and grass were mixed into sand, watered, then measured (height). Rock Phosphate grew the tallest (avg.54.2), and the Potash did not grow at all. The experiment question was answered with positive results.